St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-07
w. w. Erwin, Prosecuting Attorney
Davis and Frank M. Nye Grow
Exceeding Eloqent.
The Hamilton Trial Draws to a Close
and Is to Go to the Jury
To-Day.
Tom Moore's Assailant Likened Unt0sa
Timid Fawn---S0me Jury
Tampering. |

case will go to the jury this morning.
An audience was present during the
morning, and the court room was
densely thronged in the afternoon, for,
besides the great interest felt in the
case, the privilege of listening to two
such speakers as County Attorney
Davis, the acknowledged orator OF the
Hennepin bar. and to w. w. Erwin, the
eminent criminal attorney, of st. Paul,
was sufficient inducement to cause
many attorneys to spend the day in vol
untary appearance upon the case.
Edward Bowe testified that he was the
occupant of room OH the third floor of
the Merchants hotel. Just before the
shooting occurred in the hallway below
he heard Hamilton enter an adjoining
room and tell his brother-in-law Green
that the ''white s. b had insulted
his wife and he was going down stairs to
kill him." On crOsS-eXaminatiOn he said
he also heard HamiltOn'S wife in the
room.
Detective King testified to serving the
warrant on Hamilton July Z. at Benson,
125 miles from Minneapolis. AT first
Hamilton denied his identity, but finally
owned up. and then said he guessed he
had disguised himself: had on pair of
old pants, coat, and SLOUGH hat, and
looked like tramp.
DIR. AmeS was sworn, and Prosecuting
Attorney Davis was proceeding to es-
tabliSh his reputation and experience as
surgeon, when Attorney Erwin broke
in with "Oh, I'll admit he is one of the
best medical experts in Minnesota"
Tom. Moore was next brought in.
stripped to the waist, and the Doctor
proceeded to demonstrate to the jury
the nature of the wounds. The bullet
intiicting the mOOSt dangerous wound
entered just above the edge of the stom-
ache opposite the tenth rib, and was
between the tenth and eleventh ribs.
He felt certain the bullet must have
passed directly through the body, and
not in one case in a thousand would re-
covery be possible. He regarded the
case as one of the most remark
able in the history of his
twenty-five years practice. On cross
examination DR.. Ames said that the
shock, excitement and subsequent suf-
fering might very materially affect
MOOre's memory. This was in reply to
an inquiry of the county attorney, who
wished to account for an important
omission in his testimony. Erwin,
quick as flash, put in: ''DO you think,
sufficient to cause Moore to forget any
little attentions he may have paid, to
HamiltOn's wife?" John Colwell, of the
Quinlan q King detective agency, testi-
fed to recovering Hamilton's clothing
at Litchfield at his mOther-in-law's
house, where he had disguised him
self. The clothing, including hat, coat
and vest. were offered in evidence, and
were also identified by Yale, the night
clerk. The revolver was identified by
NJ. Kohn, the pawnbroker, as one sold
to Hamilton the week before the 4th of
July. This closed the evidence for the
defense. l.
THE DEFENSE.
Attorney Frank M. Nye opened the
case for the defense in an eloquent plea.
He said that although Tom Moore might
be cOngenial gentlemen that it should
not be tolerated in him more than in the
wretch on hand. That amiable impulse
in Hamilton to defend his wife from in
suit should be as much admired as in a
man of more exalted station. He went
on to outline the theory of the defense,
which was that Hamilton had left his
wife at the foot of the stairs while he
went up to get a clock. That Moore
asked her to come to his room and en-
braced her. Hamilton, seeing this,
aid hearing her cry for assistance, when
he called out for Moore to assist, the
latter kicked him down stairs. After
wards they went to the Hennepin
avenue entrance, and entered the hotel
again for the purpose of getting a key.
AS they came down stairs Moore stood
in the hallway and again caught hold of
the woman and threw her behind him
so as to separate her from her husband.
at the same time making motion as if
to draw a revolver, whereupon Hamil-
ton drew his revolver and fired. Mr..
Nye, in grandiloQuent terms, pictured
Hamilton as poor cOlOred boy" He
revived the memories of the war. and
deprecated race prejudiceS. He spoke
of HamiltOn's fight from justice as that
of ''timid fawn," and compared it to
Eliza crossing the river on ice.
HAMILTON, THE ''TIAIID FAWN,"
then took the stand and proved a quick
witted and confident witness. He stuck
to his story like leech, and answered
the questions of Prosecuting Attorney
Davis with the same rapidity with
which they were put. He said he had
been with his wife at cOlOred social at
ITO Washington avenue south, and they
started about midnight to go to the
Merchants hotel with his wife to get a
clock. Previously, about 9 o'clock, he
had been to the hotel office trying to
borrow dollar of the clerk. He left
his wife at the foot of the stairs because
she was in delicate condition. He was
at the head of the stairs when he heard
his wife say, colbert. Gilbert, Gilbert.
this ole man keeps on" He saw Moore
had a hold of her, but he immediately
started up stairs. They met near the
head of the stairs, and when he asked
Moore what he was doing the latter
kicked him down stairs. He fell the full
length, and his wife assisted him in
getting up. They walked down towards
the city hall to get an officer but decided
to go back to his half-brother's room in
the hotel to get key he had lost. They
went up the Hennepin avenue entrance,
passed through the office, did not see
Moore, went up to his half-brother's
room; did not find the key and started
down stairs. In the hallway, near the
stairs, was Moore, who pushed his wife
away and made motion as il to draw a
revolver. Thinking Moore was going
to shoot, Hamilton said he drew his re-
vOlver which was in his pants-pocket
and fired three times. He then ran
down in the street, and ran up Second
street, finally coming back to First
avenue north. Here he heard some men
talking about lynching coon who had
shot Tom Moore. He was frightened
and went to the Vienna cafe
where he stayed until o'clock. Then
he got hold of newspaper which said
Tom Moore was killed, and that he
would probably be lynched if caught.
He thought he had better get out, so he
walked to Fourth avenue north, took "a
train, went to Litchfield, changed his
clothes and got as far as Clontorf, when
Calwell came into the freight car and
arrested him.
County ATTORNEY Davis gave him n